SEN. JOEL VILLANUEVA'S OPENING SPEECH DURING THE 3RD PUBLIC HEARING ON 'ENDO'

Good day to all of you.

A quote from John Hume is a very good reminder for all of us: "When people are divided, the only solution is agreement."

We may have differences in our opinions or positions on the issue of ENDO, but I believe that there is already a growing consensus that ENDO must stop.

From our previous hearings, we were better able to understand the nature of the problem with ENDO. On one hand, contractual work arrangement, as one of the prevailing non-standard forms of employment, is a globally recognized labor practice. ENDO, on the other hand, is a scheme designed to skirt labor regulations and to deliberately deny our workers the rights and benefits they are entitled to.

In our first committee hearing, we learned that our Labor Code was designed to recognize other non-standard forms of employment, including the contractual work arrangement. Unfortunately, this well-intentioned policy also led to unintended loopholes that paved the way for the persistence of abusive schemes, such as ENDO.

Labor Unions confirmed that ENDO remains a persistent problem. Because of this, workers are unable to receive the benefits they are entitled to, nor enjoy their right to security of tenure, making them even more susceptible to abuse and harassment.

DOLE is acting on this problem but Secretary Bello himself believes that we need to amend our labor laws to allow them to combat unfair labor practices.

According to DTI, the nature of work is evolving due to supply chain globalization. Hence, the need to recognize in our labor policies other non-standard forms of employment.

Chairman Ravanera of the Cooperatives Development Authority stated that cooperatives, including those in the business of providing labor services, must conform with the country's labor standards while Dean Ofreneo of the UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations emphasized capacity building mechanisms for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

On the other hand, the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines challenged us to look into this issue in the broader context of skills development and apprenticeship programs to make Filipino workers globally competitive.

Today, we are eager to hear from the representatives from various retail companies and manpower service providers. Thank you for responding positively to our invitation, especially on their positions on the allegation that ENDO are prevalent in their malls and supermarkets, and of course, to enlighten us about the hiring of seasonal workers.

I know that these past couple of months, this issue is making higher demands on ourselves because we are finding the best that we can contribute to the general welfare of our workers.

I put my faith and hope that through these hearings and parallel consultations, we can agree on a piece of legislation that will put an end to ENDO not just to ten thousand regularized employees during the first 100 days of this administration but to millions of Filipino ENDO workers.